Shiki Misaki, I Love You
by ZettaFlower
Summary: It's been 2 years since Neku met Shiki ... but how does he react when he realizes she's interested in someone else? NekuXShiki.
1. Chapter 1

I wrote this back in 9th grade for school, and decided to post it on here so that other TWEWY fans can read it. (My first fanfic up on this site.)

I'm aware that Shiki looks different outside of the UG, but I was used to the way she looked for most of the game so… yeah.

**Disclaimer:** Characters are not mine (except some) and this is based off a game that's not mine anddddd yeah.

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><p><em> Walking down the streets of Shibuya, Japan, I see various people everyday. People of different sizes and shapes-from preppy cheerleaders to total rebels, I see them all. <em>

_Shibuya's like a battlefield-a battlefield where everyone's opinion is trying to come in as the loudest. It's like a clash of ideas, a conflict of thoughts and diversity. Shibuya's a peculiar place. I've grown to appreciate it after being dragged up and down these streets. From the ramen shop to the statue of Hachiko, I know every corner; I know every turn._

_My name is Neku Sakuraba. For your average 17 year old guy, you'll never believe the crap I've been through, and I'll never forget it. Three weeks changed my life. I went on this freakish deathly adventure that took place right here in Shibuya... well, sort of. It's a long story, but it changed my lifestyle and opinions. _

_I used to not give a crap about anything or anyone else. Everyone else had their own values, and I had mine. I didn't need theirs. I didn't need ANYONE. People just held me back. I slipped my headphones on, drowning out the world around me… just hiding myself in my own little bubble. But a wise man once told me: you just gotta push your horizons out as far as they can go. Expand your world… because the world ends with you._

_Life has its little surprises… and the best thing that came out from those horrific three weeks is: Shiki Misaki. She helped me through those weeks, and without her, I don't think I'd even be here today. I was wrong to say I didn't need friends; I don't know what I'd do if she weren't around. It's almost been two years since I've met her… and I really don't know how I got along before._

During the frosty month of December, Neku strolled down the busy streets of Shibuya, deep in thought. His tattered purple sneakers brushed against the surface of the Scramble Crossing as he pushed a strand of his reddish hair away from his piercing blue eyes. With headphones glued to his head, he managed to listen to his favorite music while his ears avoided exposure to the chilly air. Skipping a certain song on his mp3 track, he looked up and noticed the statue of Hachiko glimmering in the dullish sunlight.

Hachiko was a well-known statue of a dog that people would rub for luck during certain festivals. But to Neku, the statue was just more than a mere piece of bronze to rub your palm against. Memories flashed through his eyes as he took a glance over at the magnificent statue, the sunlight gleaming in Neku's face.

He remembered everything: from the terrifying frogs, the time Shiki had explained to him who Hachiko was…-

Shiki.

Shiki… he had first met Shiki by Hachiko. He thought she was a mere lunatic, blabbing out things about "noise" and what-not.

But that was one of the moments he treasured the most, and he never took for granted the fact that when he was being chased by those rotten frogs, he decided to run to where Hachiko was. Had he not, he would have never bumped into what might be his best friend for life. The mere thought of him of never being able to associate with Shiki gave him chills down his spine.

"… Hello… hello? Earth to Neku!"

Neku awoken from his deep gaze on Hachiko, gasping. He blinked as the image of a girl with beautiful brown hair and deep soulful green eyes came into view. She was dressed in a cute miniskirt outfit, despite the cold weather. Giggling, she revealed a bubbly smile that could cheer Neku up no matter how upset he was.

He felt his heart leap with joy from the simple acknowledging of her presence, but at the same time felt his ears turn pink from making her have to go to such lengths to make her presence known.

"Sh-Shiki… sorry. I didn't notice you there," he began, tapping "pause" on his mp3 stick. Shiki grinned playfully and raised an eyebrow.

"What, you have your tunes playing too loud or something?" Shiki knocked on the side of his purple headphones. His headphones were awfully big, bulky, and outdated, but wearing them gave Neku's appearance a sense of his own flair - his own style. And he liked that. He liked knowing that he was an individual in his own way.

"Naw, I was just… thinking about something," replied Neku, rubbing the back of his neck. Was it really wise to let Shiki know how much he appreciated their friendship? Neku felt it might be a little overly sappy. He didn't do sappy. Sappy wasn't his style.

"I noticed you were staring at Hachiko while you were thinking about your 'something'," Shiki said, putting air quotes around the word "something" with her fingers. Neku smirked at how overrated such an action was, but Shiki made it work.

Raising an eyebrow, Neku retorted with a firm "So?" and Shiki just giggled.

"You think Hachiko's attractive, huh?" she continued, nudging Neku in the ribs.

Neku blinked. "What? That thing's a STATUE!" he remarked. Shiki was cool, but she could be just a little childish sometimes.

"I know. I'm just playing. Hey, race you to Ramen Don's. Loser has to pay!" said Shiki, sprinting off as fast as a cheetah. Neku watched her disappear into the crowd, sighing.

_She's so weird sometimes. Man, I really don't feel like running. But… I just can't leave her there waiting for me. Ugh…._

Neku dashed through the crowd, the wind rushing through his messy red hair as he made his way to the ramen shack.

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><p>I'll post more if there's some people actually interested in this story… LOL<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks Finalage, for my first review... ever. Appreciate it!  
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Random note: I'd like to point out that this story is pretty cutesy-gushy. What is it referred to on here? "Fluff"? mmmm...

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><p>Panting, Neku pushed open the door of the quaint little ramen shop. He stepped in and turned to his right to see Shiki sitting at a small table, designed for only two customers. She waved cheerfully, calling him over. Ashamed he lost the race, Neku scuffled over to Shiki and plopped down on the seat in front of her, exhausted from running.<p>

"About time you got here. Well, guess you have to buy us ramen, eh?" giggled Shiki, lightly kicking Neku's leg under the table. He smirked, but groaned "Shut up." Slowly and reluctantly, he got up from his seat to go order some ramen for Shiki and himself.

Shortly after, Neku returned with bowls in each hand. The steamy aroma of tasty ramen noodles made its way into Shiki's nose.

He slowly placed the bowls down on the table, being awfully careful not to spill the hot liquid on Shiki. If he had done such a thing, he could never forgive himself for giving her first degree burns. A girl as sweet and innocent as Shiki-it would be just wrong.

Neku tore through his bowl, making loud slurping noises as he audibly gulped his noodles down, hardly even stopping to chew. Shiki smiled slightly, eating very daintily and carefully, as if the entire Earth would implode if a single noodle fell onto her shirt. Neku caught her little smirk, and paused his madness session with a mouthful of noodles.

"What?" he said, muffled and with a few noodles plopping back into his bowl from his mouth.

"Nothing," Shiki continued, attempting to hide her grin but failing. Neku shrugged it off, and looked back down to his noodles. He was taking another bite-

"OH MY GOSH! EEEEK!" squealed Shiki as she grabbed Neku's feeding arm, making him drop the noodles back into the bowl with a gasp.

"SHIKI! Wha-" boomed Neku, when Shiki grabbed him by the collar of his purple sweatshirt and pulled him towards her, making him separate from his chair.

"Shhh!" she hissed, covering Neku's mouth to produce a chorus of "MMFffFfmmFfs!" as she slyly looked over behind her with a mortified face. Neku shoved Shiki's hands off of him and sat back down.

"What the HELL are you freaking out about?" he questioned, straightening his sweatshirt by running his hands down it repeatedly. Shiki did not reply, for she was completely transfixed on something behind her. Neku leaned over, trying to see behind her, but failed to comprehend what it was that Shiki was so spellbound about.

Snapping his fingers next to her face, he continued to try and grab her attention. "Shiki!" he harshly whispered.

Shiki turned back to Neku, breathing shallowly, and Neku just tilted his head questioningly.

"I-it's him!" managed to squeal Shiki, fanning her bright pink face.

Neku blinked once more. "It's who?"

"HIM! You know, him!"

Neku paused, glaring at Shiki. "No, I don't know. Could you be more specific?"

"It's Alec Takahashi, the HOTTEST guy in all of Shibuya!" Shiki squealed, turning around again to stare at a lonesome looking boy, sitting at a table with no other peers.

He had soft blonde hair dripping over his light brown eyes that nicely complimented the muscle shirt he was wearing. This shirt revealed a good portion of his toned muscles as he muddled about in his thoughts, wondering what to order.

Shiki melted in her seat, but behind her was a fuming Neku. He scoffed, looking over at the so called "hot" guy.

_ All the girls are head over heels for him; what do they see in him? Is it the muscles? Muscles are totally overrated. Just look at him… he looks like a loser anyway. Just sitting there all alone at the table, having no friends. Nothing to do but work out all day, huh? _Neku would have bet everything he had on that.

Before, Neku really had no certain opinion on this guy; he was kind of neutral about it, but he wasn't exactly fond of him either. Now, after watching how he made Shiki turn into silly putty at the mere sight of him trying to decide what his taste buds desired, it made his blood boil; it made his teeth grind against each other. He just felt… terrible, like he wanted to punch a hole in the wall. He hadn't felt that horrible in a long time, not since… the incident almost two years ago. But even so, this was a new type of terrible, and Neku couldn't explain it.

Was he… jealous?

_ No. I couldn't possibly be jealous… I mean… it's Shiki. Why would I care about what Shiki thinks is hot? But… why am I so disturbed by this? Hmm. I think I'm just a little irritable and cranky. I didn't get enough sleep last night._

Neku denied it. He couldn't possibly be jealous. Because, after all, Shiki was just a friend… right?


	3. Chapter 3

**BrDPirateMan, thank you for your review. I'm new to this website, so I wasn't really sure what hurt/comfort meant. This is absolutely not meant to be a foreboding or serious type of story (I try to write that sometimes, and no matter what, I always end up adding slapstick O_o). I have changed the category to "humor". Thanks for telling me!**

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><p>Shiki took a deep breath.<p>

"All right. I'm going to go talk to him!" she squealed. This statement gave Neku a horrid expression. Something about the concept of her leaving him for Alec made something inside him die.

Shiki primped her hair up. "Do I look okay?" asked Shiki, leaning in towards Neku.

Neku sighed. She was more than just okay-she was absolutely gorgeous, stunning, beautiful…

"Yeah. You look fine."

He frowned, watching Shiki stand up from her chair, its legs making a screeching sound against the tile floor.

"RRIIIINNNNGGG! RRRINNNGGGG!" bellowed Shiki's miniskirt. Gasping, Shiki pulled a shiny pink flip phone out from her pocket, blinding Neku from the reflecting light.

"Hello?" Shiki spoke into the phone. "Why?... Now?… But..." she paused. "Fine. All right. Bye." Shiki flipped her phone shut and stuffed it into her pocket.

"I've got to go. Eri needs me," said Shiki, leaning on the table that Neku sat at with her palms pressed downward. "I'll try talking to him next time…" she whispered, sighing depressingly. Neku sighed too, but contently. As much as he disliked seeing Shiki upset, the idea that she would be with Eri instead of Alec comforted him.

Eri was Shiki's best gal friend, and she often turned to her when she couldn't do her girly "rituals" with Neku. He was familiar with the idea of Shiki hanging out with Eri, and he didn't mind it at all, compared to how it would be if she talked to Alec. He was saved by the bell, or in this case, the ringtone.

"Okay. Bye," he said, giving off a small wave as Shiki smiled and headed for the door.

Watching her walk away, Neku sighed.

_ She's just so… beautiful. That smile makes me melt every time… I just… I just wonder… what it would be like to kiss her. Those soft, luscious lips…_

Neku felt shivers run down his spine at the thought, but it was a good feeling. He began to smile dreamily.

_ WAIT! What am I saying? That's… Shiki. I… I don't like her like that. She's just a friend..._

_Oh come on, Neku. It's so obvious you like her; you've liked her since last year._

He paused in his thoughts for a moment, pushing his red hair back.

_No. She's just a friend. Nothing more._

_If she were really just a "friend", how would you explain just wanting to be around her all the time, your desire to kiss her, and why you got so upset over Alec? Just face it._

Neku sighed, realizing his conscience was right. It dawned on him-that's why he's been feeling so emotionally attached to her, and it's been increasing every single day. He loved her. He had thought about the possibility before, but shrugged it off, and denied it every single time it came back. But this time he felt … like it was time to accept it.

… _Yeah. I should just… face it. There's no point in trying to push the thought away anymore. I really do like her… I think I LOVE her… and it really hurts to know that she doesn't feel the same way about me. I don't have muscles or charming blue eyes or… or blonde hair… and I can't do anything about it._

_What can I do about this? Should I just sit there, hoping that this feeling will just pass? I mean, if I tell her that I like her, she'll be freaked out; she'll never talk to me again - and I can't handle that._

_I should just keep it to myself. I've done such a good job of doing that for most of my life, anyway._

_You can't just give up!_

_Well, what other choice do I have?_

_... Yeah. You don't have many choices._

_Exactly. And the only way I'll ever admit my feelings to her is if she likes me back. But I'm almost 100% positive she doesn't..._

Neku sighed and looked up. He observed Alec standing up from his chair, finally deciding what type of ramen he'd like to devour that day.

_She likes that… Alec guy. As much of a loser as he is, I kind of wish I could be him, just for a day... and spend that day with Shiki. She'd be willing to kiss me…._

_A kiss… a kiss…. Even if I can't tell her how I feel, I just really want to kiss her - at least some point in my life before I die. But how do I do that without ruining our friendship?_

_Maybe I could just… do it and tell her that I wanted to see what she'd do. A prank or something?_

He scrunched his nose up.

_Nah. That's beyond lame. I need some sort of valid reason to actually do it. But what are some reasons where you can kiss someone?_

Neku pushed around the noodles in his bowl, a mournful expression imprinted on his face as he managed to hold his head up using his left hand, elbow on the table.

_ Well, there are some games that involve kissing. But they're strictly optional, and if I seem eager, she'll get suspicious. Plus, I don't think she'd want to participate. And how would that even work out? I invite her over to my house and tell her, "HEY, let's play spin the bottle, just you and me!" What's the point of even HAVING a bottle in that case?_

_This is frustrating. I could just totally forget about this - blow it off. But it'll kill me inside if I can't do it soon. I've kinda wanted to kiss her for a year now, and it's just getting worse by the minute. But what can I do… WHAT CAN I DO?_

Neku smashed his fists on the table, letting out a groan of aggravation. He looked out the window, observing the chilly holiday weather outside. Just then, a couple walked past, holding hands. This made him bury his face in his hands, sighing.


	4. Chapter 4

Finalage and BrDPirateMan, thank you so much for your detailed reviews. I really appreciate the critique. I also appreciate how you tend to point out specific things in my story that caught your attention. It makes me feel really honored and inspired to write more.

Thank you, BrDPirateMan, for adding me as one of your favorite authors. I'm really flattered, especially taking into consideration that I'm a newbie and you're a very experienced author, judging off your profile. I will have to read all of your stories in the meantime!

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><p>After a moment, Neku briefly glanced up from his palms to see Alec bringing a bowl of ramen to his table. The blonde sat down in front of his treat, and decided to pop his neck in the most irritating, cocky way that Neku had ever seen. He then proceeded to create crackling sounds from his fingers, shrug his shoulders, and stretch his arms outward. Neku observed his toned muscles bulging out under his skin, and cringed. <em>What a show off. Just eat your damn noodles already.<em>

Clearing his throat, Alec grabbed at his chopsticks and began prodding at his noodles as Neku continued to watch him with utter disdain, a hole forming in his gut. The noodles in Neku's bowl were silently sinking down to the bottom, and he could relate to them. He felt like he was drowning. He had collected so many emotions over the years and stuffed them inside a bottle, and now the bottle had uncorked and hell was being unleashed inside of him; he felt like he was going to burst from too many feelings, just as how the noodles were swelling from too much water intake. He felt regret for hiding away his feelings for so long – regret for stuffing them in that damned bottle.

A bottle.

Spin the bottle.

Kissing.

Shiki.

_AUGH._

Neku pinched the bridge of his nose, musing to himself about how if only he had accepted that gym membership … if only he knew how to be charming and sparkle like the Edward Cullen wanna-be … if only Shiki was willing to kiss him …

Maybe things would have been different if he had acted sooner and stopped denying it for so long? He now hated that bottle.

Alec repeatedly stuck his chopsticks in the bowl, awkwardly pulling them back up with nothing more between the sticks other than dripping liquid. He dumbly stared at the soup plopping back onto the noodles in the bowl, and then began to mutter angrily at his food. Observing this, Neku raised an eyebrow, a bit bewildered as to what the muscular boy was trying to do.

Alec took a deep breath and then dramatically flipped his hair out of his eyes, showing the lush, shiny, and cottony texture of each individual strand. Neku discreetly pulled a strand of his own bright red hair from the side of his face to his piercing blue eyes, and examined its texture closely. The hole in his gut grew larger upon realizing that he couldn't even beat Alec in terms of hair. Neku then glanced back at him, who was incorrectly holding the chopsticks as he clumsily tried to capture the noodles in his bowl – and he was failing, miserably.

Neku felt his blood simmer.

_What the hell? What a dumbass! What does Shiki see in this guy? He doesn't even know how to feed himself. That's just pathetic._

He scowled in his seat, crossing his arms as he grudgingly stared at Alec, who walked back to the counter and asked for a fork. Neku sighed and pressed his palm to his forehead, attempting to calm himself. He was never very good at that, though.

Upon receiving a fork, Alex was now able to access the goodness that is ramen. He proceeded to satisfy his hungry, six-pack chiseled stomach. Neku sat back in his seat, and attempted to clear his mind. The room was now quite eventless, a silent and disheartened Neku in one corner, and a feasting Alec in the other.

The little ramen shack had some soft music playing in the background, just to avoid the melancholy and creepy feeling associated with utter silence. To add to Neku's dissatisfaction, the song phrase "Rocking around the Christmas tree at the Christmas party hop…" lingered in the air. He particularly disliked that certain song, for unknown reasons.

_ Ugh. Not this. Not now. I hate this song._

"Mistletoe hung where you can see; every couple tries to stop…."

He bitterly groaned._ I don't even get mistletoe. Why is it called mistletoe, why is it only a Christmas thing, and why do people -… kiss._

Neku sat up straight, his expression lightening up.

_ Kiss. That's it! I have to get Shiki under some mistletoe with me, and I can just kiss her, using the excuse of the mistletoe! Wow. I sure as hell love that song now. _His blue eyes brightened and sparkled.

_But… where would I get mistletoe? How would I… wait. There's going to be a Christmas party next week. Every year, they always have mistletoe hanging there, and people who stand under it are forced to kiss. IT'S PERFECT! I'll just somehow get Shiki under the mistletoe with me! I'll just call her over or something!_

Neku had a sudden mood change in the middle of the ramen shack, convinced that his plan was fool-proof. Why would Shiki get mad at him for kissing her? There would be mistletoe, and it would very appropriate and encouraged in that situation. He could get what he had longed for, without risking their friendship by confessing his feelings. Neku immediately stood up, resolving to complete his amazing plan, and sprinted for the door. Unfortunately, he was a bit too excited; he didn't even acknowledge the shock of pain going up his leg as he crashed into a chair and smashed his jaw into the floor. But that was okay, because he felt like he was on the moon. Alec watched Neku as he frantically scrambled up from the tile, knocking chairs aside and causing loud clatters to echo throughout the once-quiet ramen shack. Then he energetically ran out the door with his teenage hormones raging, and happily headed home with high hopes.

"What's his problem?" scoffed Alec, slurping up the last of his soup.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks everyone for your reviews.** Again, I really appreciate it and it motivates me to keep going - although I worry that people are expecting more than I can deliver! *insert paranoia here about how this might not live up to what you guys are saying* *twitch* LOL

Regarding Alec's inability to use chopsticks, I will address that (well, more like give an answer to) in this chapter. I gave myself a reason as to why he couldn't use the chopsticks, but didn't think anyone else would really care. But I guess I was wrong, so I incorporated the reason into this chapter.

BrDPirateMan, you're welcome for the review. It's the least I can do after your amazing, detailed reviews on my story! Your story is truly wonderful; I need to read more of them, because I'm sure the others are just as good.

SpeedDemonGirl, I'm glad you liked that part about the hair. It's what I was imagining too. Hehehe.

I feel like these next few chapters are going to be kind of boring. I would have skipped to the Christmas party but I guess I feel like it'd end too quickly in that case - so I'm trying to add some sort of build-up. I feel like I'm not that great at pacing, so I hope things will turn out okay.

I'm finished with my annoying rambling. Here's the story now...

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><p>Neku awoke to a chilly morning, his feet sticking out of his purple covers. He tucked them back under, shuddering. <em>I'm too lazy to walk over to the space heater. <em>So he sat there for several minutes, wallowing in his thoughts about life, thinking about spicy tuna rolls – when Shiki came to mind. His heart rushed, his head whirled, and he remembered his marvelous plan. And then he thought of Alec. His countenance darkened.

_ __RAAAAAAAAAHGHAGHHAAAH_.__

He slammed his fists on his bed, producing ripples of bounces, causing him to bob up and down slightly. But no matter, no matter – he would get to kiss Shiki at the Christmas party. His countenance flipped expressions again, and he grinned, rather jittery and tickled about the idea. It was only thing he could do at the moment; it's not like he could make Alec disappear off the face of the Earth.

_I wish that I could. Things wouldn't be so complicated without him._ Neku's smile lowered, and he bit his lip and sat in silence.

After a bit of an emo moment, Neku finally got up and dragged himself to the shower. He stared down at his muscle-less, wet self.

_I wonder if Shiki would be suspicious if I started to randomly work out._

He poked at his twiggy arm. _What is it about muscles anyway? Stupid… chunks of… human… meat. _Huffing, Neku lathered shampoo in his orange-red hair. His eyes began to sting,and then he started yelling at his shampoo bottle.

Eventually, Neku got himself together and decided it was time for a little walk. So there he was again, marching down the Scramble Crossing in sync to the beat of his headphones. A chilly breath of air escaped his lips as he stared down at his old, purple sneakers. He didn't dare throw these away.

Glancing up, he noticed just how frosty Shibuya looked. And just like the hormonal, mood-swingy teenager he was, he was now uplifted by the thought of the Christmas party – and his spirits were raised higher when he heard a familiar giggle behind him, a giggle that transcended the blaring music pouring from his headphones.

_Shiki!_

He instantly whirled around, compressing the "pause" button on his mp3 stick. And sure enough, there she was: standing there in close proximity, smiling like she always does, and just being her plain, gorgeous self. Neku's heart grew wings and it soared to the heavens. He started to take a step towards her, until he noticed she was busy giggling and chatting to someone next to her. Trying to sneak a peek, Neku casually leaned to the side and noticed the face of Eri.

_Oh._

Then he wondered: _what the hell is Shiki so giddy about?_

And now he'd done it. Now he had to know what she was talking about and what made her so excited – so cheerful that one day. Had something great happened to her? What tasty girl-only tidbits was she uttering to Eri? Was it about him? He needed to find out, a bit more concerned about Shiki's interests now.

So like a creepy stalker, he started using other people in the crowd as tools to conceal him. He dashed like the purple ninja he is from old fat man, to little girl, to hot secretary, to the statue of Hachiko as he followed the two girls down the streets. Neku pulled his headphones back, eager to hear what they were talking about.

"And so then, he was like…. and I was just…. AH!" Shiki squawked, waving her arms around unnecessarily. Neku's interest was piqued even more – and in the next second, the girls were already nearing the 104 building.

"Crap," muttered Neku, dashing like a silent wind towards the building. He casually strolled inside behind a pregnant lady, one eyebrow dramatically raised and with most of his hair shielding his eyes. Watching the two girls behind all that tattered red made him feel like he was invisible.

"… amazing! I couldn't get my eyes off of him!" Shiki squealed with delight.

Neku's heart dropped to the ground, and then it dug a hole and buried itself deep in the core of the earth. _She's talking about HIM, isn't she? _But no matter how much it hurt, he was still curious as to what she had to say. He strutted over behind a "2 for 1" sign that was promoting some new perfume from The Prince.

Eri beamed. "You're so lucky!" Neku flipped his head up, his hair bobbing. _How is she lucky? It's not like she and Alec actually got to do anything together. Maybe she's not talking about Alec. MAYBE SHE'S TALKING ABOUT ME! _His eyes widened. _Maybe… maybe Eri's saying she's so lucky to have a guy like me! HAHA! HAAAAAH –_

"Not really. You called me before I could talk to him, remember? So I'm not really lucky…"

And then Eri and Shiki turned to look behind them, hearing a loud noise that sounded like a bit of a scream and a sob – like someone getting stabbed in the gut. Or rather, almost like a breed that consisted of a cat and a cow mashed together, and this cat-cow had gotten trampled by a giant boulder or had its eye poked out.

"What was that?" Shiki asked, not seeing anything in particular.

Eri shrugged. "Beats me."

Neku stood firmly behind the sign, clasping his mouth.

_ I hate my life._

Despite how strongly Neku felt about wanting to leave, he still peeked over with a desperate half-scowl, half-puppy dog eyed face to where his lady stood. Shiki browsed around in random items, until she came along a magazine that had giant words stating: "HOW TO IMPRESS A GUY!" Shiki was immediately drawn in, and picked up the pristine, glossy papers. Neku wanted the magazine to explode.

_No! Don't teach her how to get him! Dammit! YOU STUPID MAGAZINE!  
><em> "Look, Eri!" Shiki held it up to Eri, her green eyes glittering. "I wonder what it says inside. Hmmm…"

A giant sweat drop grazed the side of Neku's face. All sorts of paranoid delusions were running through his mind as his buried heart began to beat like the clattering of horses' hooves. What if this magazine was the magic key to Alec and Shiki's future together? What if they started to date, and Shiki pulled away from Neku, and Alec proposed, and she accepted, and then the two got married in Paris without Neku getting an invitation, and then they would have 3 kids named Shiela, Alexander and… Aleki, and then they would move to the United States, to Idaho, and be living on some homey, countryside farm while Shiki was pregnant with their fourth child and all he ever did was plant potatoes?

_NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!_

"Hmm," Shiki started. "It says to share his interests. Maybe I could talk about American things? Like… baseball?"

Neku paused, attempting to calm his breathing down.

_That's right! That little pest isn't even from here. His mother's American and his father's Japanese; Alec barely arrived in Shibuya about a few months ago because his dad decided that their family should relocate, and live in his hometown. That's what I heard, anyway. He should take his girl-stealing, chopstick-failing self back to where he came from and quit messing with my life!_

Shiki continued to read the accursed magazine. "Hmm… guys like girls that smell good." She started looking around her casually and noticed the sign for The Prince's perfume. "OOH!" Shiki skipped over to the sign, a trembling wide-eyed Neku mortified behind it.

_AH! She's coming here!_

Shiki stared at the table in front of the sign, with perfume samples and boxes littered across the surface. Neku started to shift uncomfortably, listening to Shiki giggle about the scent and titter about The Prince, and how awesome he looked on the sign that Neku was standing behind.

Eri noticed a piece of red hair bobbing back and forth, disappearing and reappearing behind the sign. "What is that?"

Neku squeaked.

Shiki stepped to the side, slinking around the sign to take a peek at the situation.

There stood a person whose face was obstructed with a frilly, green dress on a hanger. Shiki blinked.

"Oh HELLO!" the person said, their voice very high-pitched and tingly sounding. It was creepily abnormal. Shiki stammered and backed away, recoiling to her friend.

"Let's go over there…" she whispered, pointing in a direction away from the dress-holding person. Eri and Shiki stalked away to a region far enough, leaving Neku home free. He sighed, deciding to get out of there before they caught him and started asking questions.

Neku dashed outside the store, feeling worse than he did when he first woke up. All he wanted was to go home and drink something warm. He began thinking of a nice, cozy fire – when all of a sudden, a gruff, angry voice called behind him.

"HEY YOU! PUNK KID WITH THE HEADPHONES!"

Neku panicked, unsure of what was happening and started running. A wave of familiarity hit him as flashbacks of running from noise through the same streets replayed in his mind. This caused him to panic even more, and he dashed through the streets even faster. Suddenly he found his cheek making hard impact with the cold concrete as the burly police officer tackled him.

"Shoplifting, eh? You mischievous brats! Why don't you find something better to do?" The police officer forcefully pried the green dress out of his hands.

Neku mentally pressed his palm to his forehead.


	6. Chapter 6

**HI EVERYONE! I'm very sorry for the lack of new chapters. School came back, and I got really swarmed with homework; I couldn't even do whatever I liked to do. And even then, even though it's Christmas break… I'VE STILL GOT HOMEWORK TO DO!**

**But I remembered this story and wanted to continue it. I'm going to blow off my homework. I don't know if I can continue it and do a good job, since my momentum has been thrown off now =/ I DON'T EVEN REMEMBER WHAT I WANTED TO DO! I'm just going to rush it—I just want to get a chapter out there.**

**Sorry guys! I'm glad many of you are still reading and reviewing this. Thank you so much for your support. I'm sad to see that some of you have removed me as your favorite author for lack of doing anything ;_; *goes to weep in corner* LOL**

**I don't know how often I'm going to be able to update this. Really, by the time I'm done with my assignments & my extracurriculars, all I want to do is lie down and not think about anything. But I will not let this die, not now-and it's Christmas, so this story is now fitting!**

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><p>Neku sat in the ramen shack, rubbing the side of his temples.<p>

"Curry! Love me some curry." Beat took a seat in front of Neku and slurped the curry up like a wild beast that hadn't eaten in weeks. Neku sighed, averting his eyes from the blonde, muscular boy. It was just another painful memory regarding his own toothpick arms.

"Yo man, wut's wrong? You been acting all down and whatever. Why you even invite me for curry if you gonna be so depressed man? Man, I thought you were done with all this crap about hating li—"

"SHUT UP." Neku simmered as his blue eyes of boiling water hid under strands of red. A sense of regret crawled into him. _Why am I doing this again?_

"Pfft, calm down. Could at least show some love for a bro who bailed you outta jail," Beat continued, and slurped up some more curry while inaudibly mumbling "you little thief." Neku threw his head back, rubbing his palms against his face, and took a deep breath to release all frustration. But again: that was not Neku's area of expertise.

"It was an ACCIDENT. I didn't even realize I had the dress with me. YOU try sitting in jail with some creepy inmate who keeps giving you this… this seductive look!" Neku spouted with a strained voice, a bit wary about attracting attention towards him. The last thing he wanted right now was for people to question him about his new career in theft.

All you could see of Beat's face was the top of his beanie and the back of the curry bowl. Slurping sounds filled the air. Mustering up some sort of courage or willpower, Neku took a pause and continued to rub the side of his temples.

"Beat. Aight… okay. I…" Neku started, his eyes shifting around the ramen shack cautiously. "I need your help," he whispered, an atmosphere of shame suddenly emulating his aura.

Beat slurped up the last of his curry, and raised an eyebrow. "WHADCHU—"

"SHHH!" Neku shushed him, countenance burning with rage. "Gah!"

Beat leaned in across the table, whispering harshly. "Whadchu say? My help?"

Neku painfully swallowed his pride. "Yes."

"With what, man? You gonna steal a car this time? Need me for bail again?"

Neku pressed his palm to his face, almost biting his lip from irritation. "No! I just… I…" he sighed.

"What then, man?"

"I… okay, say that there's this guy. And he's so much cooler than you. And you just want him to go away, because he's stealing your turf. Then what do you do?"

Beat grinned. "Oh man, you come to the right place! I deal with punks like that all the time. You just gotta initimiate them, see? Make 'em feel all scared and realize they ain't nothing but losers."

"Initimiate? You mean intimidate."

"Yeah, yeah, intumitate, and yeah, and you gotta show 'em who's boss, you know, and show off your tricks, and make him realize that he can't conpeet withchu. Know wut I'm sayin?"

_What the hell was I thinking? If I can't figure out what to do, what made me think Beat could?_

"Beat," Neku groaned. "It's not a matter of scaring him away. Besides, I can't… I can't do that." _I'm not some buff cow like you. _

Beat stared at Neku, his eyes slowly narrowing. Obviously, Beat had no idea what Neku was trying to say. Neku felt a temper tantrum building up within him, trying to release itself, and it was about to burst out.

"AAAAGGGHH!" Neku yelled, pretty much hating everything in life. "I WANT TO KNOW HOW TO STEAL A GIRL AWAY FROM HIM!" The customers in ramen shack paused, their chopsticks in the midst of their journey to their mouths, and glanced over at Neku. A face of disgust and confusion was imprinted among them. Neku slinked back in his chair, knowing he had said too much, and much too loud. His outburst only served to humiliate him, and in turn, make his insides boil even more than they already were.

Beat blinked. "Hold on, man. You want to be a girl thief, not a car thief? Wait… so you in love with someone, man?"

An audible gulp escaped the moppy redhead. "No!" Neku felt the shade of a pink-tinted rose start to find its way to his face, but he cringed and altered his thoughts in order to avert it. Luckily, he was successful.

"OHH! Neku got the hots for someone! HAHAHA! You becoming a man, man!" Beat leaned forward and smacked the side of Neku's arm. Neku felt hot smoke pouring out of his ears.

"I AM NOT—"

Neku's breath was cut off, noticing that someone had waltzed into the ramen shack; it was a certain blonde boy that Neku was not fond of, to say the least.

"Alec!" he gasped, immediately recoiling from his own loudness. He felt his stomach turn inside out. A wave of nauseousness came over Neku, as he observed Alec lazily walking to the counter. He clenched his fist and begun shaking and quivering, overwhelmed by the amount of jealousy he was enduring.

Beat noticed Neku's blue eyes dirtily targeting the enemy. He also noticed that the chopsticks were vibrating in his bowl. "Yo man, is that the guy you hate?" Beat whispered harshly, making subtle movements to the guy.

"Hmph. That's him all right." Neku was so encompassed by his disgust and sorrow; he became unaware of the consequences of his words. Looking down at his own pants, Neku resolved to no longer sadden himself with the image of the imbecile.

"YO PEABRAIN!" Neku jumped up in his seat and looked up to see Beat shaking his fist at Alec.

_Oh no. OH NO NO NO NO NO._

Alec raised an eyebrow. "What do you want, you punk?"

"WHO YOU CALLIN' A PUNK? YOU DA PUNK, PUNK! YOU ALL WALKING UP IN THIS RAMEN SHACK LIKE YOU DA BOSS? WELL, YOU NOTHIN' BUT A LADY STEALER—mmffghhhg…"

Neku dusted his hands off after shoving the complementary crackers into Beat's mouth.

"Forgive him. He's a bit angry today and likes to yell at random people," Neku uttered, grumpily staring down at his own shoes as he spewed out his half-hearted apology.

Alec cockily ran his hand through the lush blonde sitting atop of his head. "No sweat. I've heard about this guy before. He's uh…. Dais—"

"BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" roared Beat, cracker crumbs flying from his face. "DON'T YOU SAY THAT! I'LL KILL YOU! YOU WANNA GO, PUNK?"

"Come on, let's go!" whispered Neku through gritted teeth, his hot blood boiling through his veins. _Stop making a mess of things, DAMMIT! _He gripped Beat by his wifebeater, and miraculously began to pull him out the eatery.

"NO! LEMME AT HIM! HE'LL PAY FOR SAYING IT!"

The customers of the ramen shack received a free show; it consisted of an irritated twiggy boy dragging a muscular skater as he sat on the floor, spewing out words of failed insults.

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><p><strong>Whenever I spend time away from a story, my writing style always changes. I hate it. I apologize for its differing style. <strong>


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